«　WEEK 6　DAY 1　»

　　Rom. 10:17 So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

　　John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　According to Romans 10:17, faith comes out of the hearing of the word. Thus, the source of faith is the word, but we have to realize the crystallization of this point. There are three aspects of the word. First, there is the written word of God—the Bible (John 10:35). Then there is the living word of God—Christ (1:1). Finally, there is the applied word of God—the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; John 6:63).

　　The Bible is the written word, and Christ is the living word. Without the Spirit, however, the living word cannot be applied to us. The living word becomes the applied word through the Spirit. God has only one kind of word. First, He spoke, and what He spoke was written in a book. That is the Bible. There is only one book that is the word of God. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 286-287)

　　When the word of the Bible is spoken to us and heard by us, right away the written word becomes the living word. That is Christ. When the living word is applied to us and received by us, it becomes the word of the Spirit. Then this word of the Spirit heard by us is the source of our faith. Faith comes from the hearing of this applied word by the Spirit through the living Christ out of the written Bible.

　　Early in the morning you may read the Bible but without prayer and without calling on the name of the Lord. Then the word of God is merely the written word to you. It has nothing to do with you subjectively. So you have to have some contact with the Lord by calling on Him and pray-reading the Word. When you call on Him and pray-read the Word, right away you have the deep sensation that Christ is living within you. Then you would say, “Lord, I love You. I love this word here. How I love Hebrews 11:6: ’‘He who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.’” Right away this written word becomes a living word and then an applied word to you. Then you get into your car and drive to your office. While you are driving, you have something living applied to you. Then you have faith. Faith comes from this source.

　　All three—the written word, the living word, and the applied word—refer to God Himself. “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The Word here is a person. God’s written word in the Bible becomes Christ as the living word, who is applied into us as the Spirit, the word of the Spirit. That is God Himself. The more that God is gained by you in this way, the more He becomes your faith.

　　Thus, the source of faith is God… We can gain God by coming to the Bible, the written word… Before reading the Bible, it is good to call on the Lord at least two or three times, “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.” Right away, the written word of the Bible becomes the living word. That is Christ. Then we react to Him, and He becomes the word as the Spirit, the word applied by the Spirit. Then we have God. God is added into our being, and this God is the source of faith.

　　The crystallization of faith is to believe that God is. The crystallization of the source of faith is God in His written word contacted as the living word and applied as the word of the Spirit so that we can gain the Triune God, who is able to call the things not being as being and give life to the dead. This One is embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit. So faith is the Triune God embodied and realized… God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit is faith. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 287-289)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 8